"Here is a picture of my wife Barb and I at the 1896 marble stadium in downtown Athens. Also, Here is a genuine participant medal too from 1896."

Thanks! Great photo and medal. -Editor

"The item on banknotes in books rang a bell with me today. Some years ago I took a second-hand book purchase (non-numismatic) off my shelf and found a crisp Australian $100 note in it. Now it's possible I bought the book at a market in Australia and put the note in it myself to keep it safe and flat and simply forgot about it, so it may not have been a windfall. However, the book was a duplicate and I now see I only have one copy on the shelf, and no sign of the note anywhere. I hope I didn't get rid of it again ...!"

Happy hunting! -Editor

"I tracked down the Polish levitating coin to this website, and called them. Only 550 were made, and they are sold out. As such, he has no info on future stocks, and could not tell me what it sold for.
https://www.providentmetals.com/2024-antique-cameroon-ufo-mp-1766-levitating-7-oz-silver-coin.html "

"I read with interest Pete Smith's article on the mysterious C.W. Franklin book in our recent sale. Pete speculates that this book (A Handbook of American, Greek and Roman Coins) is the same as another title by Franklin, Numismatic Blue Book: Ancient and Modern Coins. Giving the Auction Sales of American Premium Coins for 1905–1906.

I have never seen the Numismatic Blue Book. Judging from its subtitle, "Giving the Auction Sales of American Premium Coins for 1905–1906, though, my first thought would be that they are different. While the Handbook in our auction has a small number of pages (17 of 120) devoted to coin values, at no time are auction results given (though he states at one point that he consulted auctions). The Handbook in the Homren sale is mostly narrative—not a price guide (I suspect much of it is plagiarized).

However, an examination of the only description I can find of a copy of the Numismatic Blue Book, in a 1989 Money Tree sale, strongly indicates that the two works are in fact the same. No auction results appear to be cited in the book, despite what the paper covers suggest. As is often the case, the title of the work (as given on the title page) is not reflected by the paper covers (which function more as advertising and are not technically where one finds the title).

As for the binding, the book was printed in Bellevue, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and it was bound in Pittsburgh. Which could indicate either that the binder bound copies for the author/publisher or that the original owner (also from Pittsburgh) had it bound privately. The discovery of an additional copy would help clarify this."

"I came across a token with one side appearing to be Civil War related. The other side has the motto of the Society of the Cincinnati Omnia relinquit servare rempublicam and what appears to be three Roman Senators offering a sword to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. This token comes in brass and bronze. However, I have been unable to find anything else about it.

"Is there any chance that any of your readers might recognize it and give me any information about it?"

Let's find out - can anyone help? FWIW, in 2022 Jeremy Bostwick of Numismagram sent in this image of a Society of the Cincinnati in Virginia medal, which has a somewhat similar obverse design. -Editor

See also the article elsewhere in this issue about Sotheby's upcoming sale of a Society of the Cincinnati Badge membership badge and certificate. -Editor

Kavan Ratnatunga passed along word that the Central Reserve Bank of Peru received an award for Best New Series of banknotes. Thanks. -Editor